First encounter of photographing interesting personalities on the street in Toronto.  We had a lot in common as we were both Nikon D800 series shooters.

Aaargh!!  Street photography!  I really want to be a good street photographer but I’m not.  So I can’t give any great insights here.  You can check out some great posts by Eric Khim for pointers.  I’ll also send out props for @Joshmankz on instagram, met him recently and think his work is awesome.

Here’s why I’m not a good street photographer.

1. I don’t go out enough.  I have kids, family responsibilities, full time IT job.  All this means I don’t have a lot of time.
2. I’m uncomfortable photographing people without permission.  I will go and ask, but I’ve not yet developed that comfortable rap that put people at ease.  I think I sounded almost apologetic in my approach.  That just takes some practice.
3. Patience.  Some things just take time – and waiting in a spot for things to fall into place is hard for someone like me who is naturally fidgety.

Given all these issues, you are probably asking why I want to do more street photography.  The reasons are

1. It is a perfect means to develop your photographer’s eye and sense of composition.  Taking a lot of photos and analyzing what was wrong with them is the best way to grow
2. Meeting people.  I like meeting personalities and different types.  You will learn how to work camera angles, work a scene, pose, analyse a persons structure and how best to photograph different types
3. Seeing new places that will be useful when I want to do planned shoots later on
4. Learning what type of backgrounds just suck ( I’m not a big fan of parks any more)
5. Learning to see colours and also what looks good in black and white

The following photos are examples of some shot from my street photography.  I like the expressions in both I really should go out and do more.  Check back on my site to see my progress.

Portraits of personalities on the streets in Toronto